Getting Here, Getting There

If you follow my blog at all, you know that we recently moved from Southern Georgia to Western Washington via Western New York. It was a long and exciting couple of months.

The last five days of the trip were driving from New York to Washington in a little caravan. Here's what I saw:













Occasionally I looked in the rear view and saw this:
























Sometimes when we'd stop I've even get to see this:






Or this:




And when we stopped at Mt. Rushmore I got to see this:



Oh, yeah, and this too:





As you can see, we had a great trip. We're unpacking and settling in. In fact, I think all the mover's boxes are unpacked. I'm not guaranteeing that everything has been put away yet, but it's all out of the boxes. And I will admit, too, that there are a few unpacked boxes of books that we'd packed up many moons ago when we had to clean up our Georgia home to get it on the market. But those should be unpacked and put on shelves in no particular order in another day or two. Pictures are on our walls. We've eaten inside at the dining room table and outside on the deck, once because we couldn't find the dining room table. But the other time was because we wanted to enjoy the weather!

We're eating well and ready to lose the poundage we put on over the last few months. I've been back on Mark's Daily Apple and am stocking the cupboards, fridge, and freezer with Primal friendly foods (minus the goods I bought to make chocolate peanut butter chip cookies for a neighborhood 4th of July party!). I've found a local CSA and plan to visit them personally to learn more by the end of next week.

We've got plans to start swimming as a family, camping, and hopefully fishing. Scott got a bike to commute with. The kids have made friends in the neighborhood.

Life is good. We're getting there. And we're happy to be headed in the right direction.

Just A Little Something...

I don't have time for long-windedness. But I do have a couple extra minutes...Scott's changing a tire on the trailer that's worn bald. Sucks for him, but at least he caught it this morning rather than in blowing out while I'm following him on the road. I tend to be oblivious to everything else but the white box ahead of me...a blown tire could have ruined both our days!

So, the kids all rushed to get dressed so they could go watch him and rather than finish packing immediately I thought I'd hop online. I miss my little blog.

The quick update: we're half way through our cross country adventure. We'll be taking in the sights of Mt. Rushmore and having a restful afternoon. Should be in Washington Friday night. Get the keys to our new rental home on Sunday. Things are good.

I promise to entertain you more, and me too, in a few weeks once things settle into a new normal. Promise.

Helllllooooo Out There!

Hey there, everyone. How are ya'll on this fine Tuesday-after-a-holiday-weekend morning? I'm good. I'm sitting on an exercise ball, typing away on my husband's computer, while listening to Fitz in the Morning on the Wolf - a radio station that Scott loves out of Seattle. He's getting into the Pacific Northwest state of mind. (It's been so long since I've typed that I just had to think about writing "husband's." I first wrote it "husbands" then stopped before adding the apostrophe and talked myself through it. "I only have one husband and this is his computer." That's when I backspaced the original s, added the apostrophe, and retyped another correctly spaced s. Do you backspace or delete when you make mistakes or use the mouse to go back and make your corrections?)

Wow. I'm all over the place! I guess that happens when you're sitting on a ball!

Anyway, what's everyone else up to? Scott and I have left the monkeys with any number of relatives (THANK YOU relatives!) and we enjoyed a ride in the new truck out to Connecticut where I'll be hanging out during his last week of school. Did you know he got a new truck?

Well, there she is! If you've known us for very long you're probably wondering why this truck isn't green. Our last 5 or 6 vehicles have been some shade of green! But this is a really sharp grey and we saw another one on the road yesterday with black on the bottom and over the wheel wells...sharp. We haven't named her yet, either. Roxy (the old truck) was a part of our lives for so long, longer than our actual children, that we feel a proper mourning period would be good. Not really. We just haven't found the perfect name yet! Gotta get a feel for her first.

So, as far as the rest of my life...things are good. The kids and I spent 5 nights at Scott's brother's house. Jared's fiance has horses and the kids loved the farm. All three of them road ponies. Actually so did I! It was a lot of fun. I'll post some pictures after I figure out how to get the pictures off my camera. I can't find the cord right now and the camera card doesn't fit in the computer. Sometimes technology is a pain! But, anyway...we had a great time. Grandma and Grandpa Gebel and Scott came a few days after us and we all relaxed in our own way.

Jace explored all the nooks of the landscapes of the farm. Gracie played with Kate's hair every chance she got. Kate is the soon-to-be-aunt with horses, and really fun hair! Tyler loved the neigh-neighs, tractors, and many fire trucks. Scott's brother is a fire fighter. Kate and Jared have a very fun dog too, that we all enjoyed playing catch with. Scott, Jared, and Tom (their father) spent their time working on the farm, fixing fence, baling hay, creating the framework for a large door that will be going in the 100-year-old barn. It should be restated that they were relaxing. All three of our guys really like manual labor. I, for one, am not complaining.

As for me, I read, cooked, ate, talked and ended just about every night in the hot tub. That's my idea of vacation!

Hopefully the rest of you have found a few moments to do what you enjoy recently too. I know a lot of homeschoolers are finishing up their year...hope it's gone well. I'll slowly be making the rounds to read blogs from the past week or so during this week. Can't wait to hear how it's gone. I also have pictures to look at from my cousin's wedding that we couldn't make it to, shopping to do...and not just for me, and some peanut butter cups to eat. Well, I have a project to do that will require them (not for any of you...sorry) and then I'll eat them!

I'll try not to be gone so long this time...but no promises...I'm still on vacation!

Learning Along The Way

We're on the road. Well, technically, right now we're in a hotel. But we've left Georgia. We're in South Carolina. We'll make it to Maryland tomorrow and do DC this weekend! I can't wait!

So, lessons have I learned on this day?

Well...it's race day in Darlington, SC this weekend. I thought that I'd be all relaxed about this little leg of our trip and not make reservations or even plan on where to stop tonight. Well, we made it to 20 minutes Southeast of Darlington. The first exit we looked for rooms at was booked. Thankfully we did get a room at the second exit. And in time for Survivor. (yay!)

Jace thinks I'm cool. Since today was his last day of school he gave me the Mother's Day card he'd made rather than waiting until Friday or Sunday. He basically wrote this: "My mom is cool. She whistles like the wind. She lets us cuss. My mom likes to cuddle with me. And she lets me buy Nerf guns with my own money." Isn't he too sweet! I'm thinking he threw the cussing thing in there hoping the power of suggestion would work for him!

Tyler can sleep through a gymnasium of Kindergarten, 1st graders, and 2nd graders yelling and cheering for their teachers. We spent the whole day at Jace's school today for his field day. All morning we were outside playing. Then we came in and had lunch, after which we went to the gym for class activities. After the classes all competed in tug o' war the teachers and parents got out there. I, unfortunately, couldn't go because Tyler was sleeping in my lap. And he slept through all the rowdy, loud, shouting. I couldn't believe it!

If you don't strap Tyler into his car seat, he will sit in it anyway and not get out and play. Very smart boy. For about 15 minutes after we left the school Tyler kept saying, "Ut-oh," and I'd ask him what was wrong and he'd grunt something unintelligible. He didn't sound too worried or hurt so I'd just say, "OK...you're all right." Finally, Gracie looked over and told me Tyler wasn't strapped in! Too much focus on snacking and not enough on safety before hitting the road, I guess. I promise to pay more attention next time.

Teachers have one exhausting job. Not only did I spend today in Jace's class, but I was in Gracie's yesterday. They've just completed 1st grade and pre-k. In Gracie's class of soon-to-be-Kindergarteners, there were kids reading words and kids learning to identify letters or name the last letter in their name. In Jace's class there are reading levels ranging from 4th grade down to whatever level is still learning sight words and phonics. We reviewed odd and even numbers in 1st grade this morning and not everyone got it right. We talked about odd and even numbers yesterday in Gracie's class and not everyone got it right there either, but some did. I didn't fully realize the range of students teacher's have to teach. And then there are the maturity levels. Both classes had kids who listened the first time and kids who didn't listen the fourth or fifth time. Both classes had kids to sat quietly and waited for the next instruction and those who couldn't sit quietly even if that was the instruction. I've known that teaching is a tough job and one that I've always had great respect for. But after two days in the classroom...I'm going to write personal thank you notes to my kids' teachers. They were given wonderful attention these past few years and I don't think the thanks I've already given was enough.

Well, I guess that's as good a lesson learned to leave off on as any. Tomorrow's a big day, fully of driving and chatter. Wish us luck! Have a great weekend and a fabulous Mother's Day!!!

Driving To and Fro

I'm not sure if I'm mentioned it on here, but I drive a lot. I basically have an hour commute each way to my living room. As a stay at home mom I have put more miles on vehicles than I did going to school or working a "regular" job. Most of the time I'm fine with it, though. After all, I chose to have this commute, twice.

See, the year we moved to Georgia was the year Jace started preschool. I found out before moving that Georgia has free, full-day pre-k and I was thrilled for Jace that he'd get so much academic attention...he was ready! In fact, we'd talked it up as part of the excitement of our cross-country relocation. So, when I found out that we'd missed the lottery for his chance to get into the local program I was bummed and so was he. Then someone told us that some day cares also had the same state sponsored pre-k as well. We found one, the closest one, half an hour away and - almost without hesitation - signed him up!

This year we faced a similar situation with Gracie. We didn't miss the lottery, but I didn't have an actual birth certificate for her...who knew? The day care Jace went to was full, but we got Gracie into a pre-k class at a different day care, also thirty minutes away.

I have felt that both times the decision was a good one. But, it does put me on the road a lot. And I see some crazy things out there. I've seen Superman walking his dog and a dog standing on the top of a truck cab...maybe he thought he was superman. (I know, I shouldn't joke about someone letting a dog ride on his vehicle like that, but...this is Georgia. At least he was going slow...around 20 MPH in a 55 MPH zone!)

Today I didn't see anything too insane as far as costumed pedestrians or anything like that. Maybe because it's unusual to have such a slow day for antics I was especially noticing the expressions of the people all around me. I found myself annoyed at the guy behind me who looked annoyed with me that I was waiting for a break in traffic before turning. I wondered what was going on in the car where the boy in the passenger's seat was looking out the window and the mom (?) driving looked determined to keep her hands on the steering wheel and her eyes facing forward. I felt a little bad for the woman looking left and right, waiting to turn left onto a very busy road at a very busy time of day. I was glad for her, though, that she didn't have anyone staring her down through her back window; she seemed tense enough without that!

While I was creating little stories in my head about the lives of the people I was driving past during my commute today I decided to smile. I'm sure I mostly have a rather relaxed, blank face when I'm going here and there. But today, if anyone was sneaking a peek into my mama taxi van they might wonder a little about me.

I was trying to look calm and content. Did anyone see me? Did I succeed?

Driving Directions

I do a lot of driving. I spend at least two hours on the road every day. That's plenty of time to find things to correct in other people's driving abilities. Between being the kids' school bus and running errands I also have a few things to say about parking. So, here's a list of things that everyone needs to know when behind the wheel.

-- If you're going 40 mph in a 55 mph zone, do not speed up when getting passed
-- If you were just going 40 mph in a 55 mph zone, don't try to make up for it by driving 55 mph in a 40 mph zone.
-- Yes, that stop sign was meant for you too.
-- Semis take longer to speed up and slow down. Give them the space and respect they deserve.
-- Drive slowly in parking lots. WalMart is not the place to test your 0 to 60 time.
-- When dropping your child off in the two lane drop off zone, do not park in both lanes.
-- If you're going to be inside the school for longer than hugs, kisses, and singing your child in, don't park in the drop off zone. Park in the parking lot or on the street so others are not stuck behind you.
-- In my opinion, there is no good reason to leave one child in the car while you go inside a store or school. I've been tempted. I've never done it. I don't care if they're not old enough to open the door. I don't care if you locked the car. I don't think it's a good idea and I pray you never find out why. And, if you do choose to leave your baby in the car when you're dropping your child off at school, please do not act panicked and in a hurry to get back to them. If you're that worried, don't leave them in the first place.
-- Using your turn signal allows other drivers to know which direction you're going at a 4-way stop. That's helpful information.
-- Speaking of 4-way stops, if you stop first, you get to go first. I appreciate your thoughtfulness in waving me on, but I can wait those few seconds to let you go. Really.

Hopefully this little guide will speak to those who need to hear it. The bottom line is...just get out of my way when I'm on the road, in a parking lot, or dropping my kids off. That's not to much to ask, right?